Two whale watchers had an experience that they will never forget when a humpback decided to get up close and personal. Julie McSorley and Liz Cottriel were watching whales on Monday off the coast of Avila Beach, California; eventually one came up underneath them caused them to capsize.
A series of unfortunate events, captured on video by Julie McSorley at Avila Beach, led to the kayaker’s sudden plunge into water. First, we see that birds were circling above peaceful waters when suddenly fish started flopping around her kayak; moments later a whale breached in front of her boat and she lifted up out of it just as one or more large fish hopped over onto its deck causing it to overturn with startling speed.
The dramatic footage was recently shared online by amateur videographer Julie McSorley who described what happened while filming from inside another nearby yak being paddled near the shoreline: “I saw this big pool come up out – I didn’t know if they would jump off.
Two lucky kayakers found themselves in the wrong place at the right time when a whale knocked them underwater. A film crew of whale watchers traveling with Liz Cottriel and Jennifer McSorley captured their harrowing ordeal on camera, capturing it from multiple angles so that we can all watch what happened unfold before our eyes. It looked like they had been swallowed by one of these majestic creatures for sure! But then- next thing you know -the two women were pushed back up to surface where they escaped unscathed and continued watching whales as if nothing ever happened.
Arthur G. Moore is a veteran paddler. He has over 10 years of whitewater kayaking experience in his kitty. When he was young, he used to love kayaking in rapid III and rapid IV but as time went on, he decided to concentrate mainly on covering long distances on a standard touring kayak. He is currently working as a senior editor for Kayak Manual.
